Another French Quarter victim recalls attack like the one that killed Slidell optometrist

When he heard the news last week that a Slidell optometrist was bludgeoned to death and robbed in the French Quarter, Dr. Stephen Hales could think of only one thing to do: Call his stepson."I told (him) for the 100th time," Hales said, "that I'm glad he's alive."

View full sizeTed Jackson, The Times-PicayuneTim Soslow talks Monday surviving an attack in the French Quarter in June, leaving him with three head wounds, a concussion and the sense -- despite his love for the city -- that although he feels generally safe, he no longer feels completely safe in the Quarter.

In June, the well-known pediatrician got a call that one of his six sons, Tim Soslow, was in the emergency room after being clubbed over the head and robbed on Dauphine Street. Soslow, 31, a software engineer who lives Uptown, had attended his younger brother's engagement party in the Quarter, then went out to a nightclub with his brothers and their wives.

"The last thing that I remember was saying goodbye to my brothers at the Gold Mine (on St. Peters Street)," Soslow said. "I was going to meet up with some friends. I don't remember anything after that."

Police found Soslow at Dauphine and Barracks streets, six blocks from the Gold Mine, a location that confounds him to this day. Unlike optometrist Brent Hachfeld, who seems to have taken a wrong turn before he was attacked Oct. 16 at Dauphine and Dumaine streets, Soslow is intimately familiar with the streets of the Quarter and said he would not have gotten lost.

He was taken to the hospital with a full concussion, three head wounds and scratches on his neck. He thinks he might have wandered around after being struck on the head.

Since Soslow's attack, the family has heard about similar muggings, leaving them with the perception that such clobber-and-run attacks are "not uncommon" in the Quarter, Hales said.

Attacks like that "happen, although not very often," said Sgt. Nick Gernon, head of personal crimes for the NOPD's 8th District, which includes the Quarter. "In the vast majority of armed robberies, no one is injured," he said.

Overall, 8th District data show that armed robberies are slightly up: 74 this year so far compared with 71 through the end of October 2010. But simple robberies -- those that don't involve a weapon -- are down, from 97 last year to 72 this year, as are purse-snatchings. Violent crime overall has fallen as well, police say.

From a medical standpoint, there was little difference between Hachfeld's injuries and those of Soslow, Hales said. "When a blow falls, when someone is hit hard enough to be knocked out, it can result in anything from a goose egg to a dead person. It's that random."

Soslow was lucky, Hales said. "What happened to him and to the gentleman from Slidell was the same: they were walking along unsuspecting, were hit on the head, fell to the sidewalk and their pockets emptied."

While there have been no arrests, Soslow said he has had a positive experience with the NOPD and feels like the department is "absolutely trying to solve my case."

A detective came to speak to him at the hospital, police traced his cash card, and officers got their hands on a video of three young men trying to use the card at a convenience store.

Soslow's phone was traced to a residence somewhere in the 1500 block of Lesseps Street in the Upper 9th Ward but no one was ever caught with it. Not long afterward, police arrested a trio of young men who were robbing people in the Quarter and were around the same age as his assailants. "But there's no way of telling if they found the kids" who assaulted him, said Soslow, because no charges have been made in his case.

If people ask him about the city's reputation for violence, "I still try to defend New Orleans," he said, "but it's definitely hard." Soslow said he can never feel "completely safe" in the French Quarter.

"I was always cautious," Soslow said. "But I am even more so now."

His parents say it's easy to understand how visitors to the Quarter fall prey.

"I don't think that young people have the same level of fear as their parents do," Hales said. "But on a beautiful night on a happy occasion, walking along those lovely streets, it's easy not to be watchful."